WASHINGTON—With the election less than six months away, a nationwide Gallup poll released Wednesday found that Money Man has now pulled even with Black Guy in the 2012 presidential race.
Citing Money Man's significant appeal among veterans—as well as his narrow lead in Florida, a crucial swing state that went to Black Guy in 2008—experts said Money Man is closing the gap on a race that, until quite recently, seemed to be firmly under Black Guy's control.
"I have to say, Money Man has really impressed me lately," said poll respondent Mike Hargett, who is among the 45 percent of independent voters planning to cast a ballot for Money Man in November. "I voted for Black Guy in the last election, but I’ve been fairly disappointed with the job he’s done. As much as I admire Black Guy and his historic achievement, it just seems like the time is right for someone new with fresh ideas to come in and shake things up a bit."
"Someone like Money Man," Hargett added.
Still, Money Man’s current one-point lead over Black Guy is within the Gallup poll’s margin of error, and Washington insiders have pointed to several encouraging signs for Black Guy, who maintains strong ratings on foreign policy and a double-digit lead in favorability among middle-class voters—two areas in which Money Man typically hasn’t polled very well.
Further highlighting the closeness of the race, the poll revealed there are a significant number of undecided voters still weighing the merits of a Money Man presidency vs. a Black Guy presidency.
"It's a tough choice, because both Money Man and Black Guy have strong qualities," said 47-year-old voter Albert Dorin, adding that he may not make up his mind until he sees Money Man and Black Guy next to each other on a stage, debating. "I like Money Man’s views on the economy and on money. However, you have to hand it to Black Guy for finally tracking down and killing bin Laden. And I like his wife, Black Lady, too."
"I like her more than Money Man’s wife, Blonde Lady," Dorin added.
Despite Money Man's rise in the polls, surveys have found that a majority of Republican voters would have preferred to see Food Man from New Jersey on the ballot, had he chosen to run, and that there also would have been strong support for The Woman, especially among the conservative base.
"Food Man from New Jersey or The Woman would have been more in line with my sensibilities, but there's still a good chance Money Man will pick one of the two as his running mate," Ohio voter Margaret Yaster told reporters. "Besides, for me, pretty much any Republican would be better than Black Guy. Even Pizza Black Guy."
"Not Ron Paul, though," Yaster continued. "That guy's out of his goddamn mind."
FOREX-Spain woes drag euro to 23-month low vs dollar - Reuters
* Spanish banking problems weigh heavily on euro
* Euro hits near 2-yr low vs dollar; dollar index at 20-mth high
* Focus on rising Spanish debt yields and risk of bailout
* Italy pays hefty price to sell bonds
LONDON, May 30 (Reuters) - The euro fell to it lowest in 23 months against the dollar on Wednesday as concerns grew about Spain's ailing banking sector and soaring borrowing costs, and after Italy was forced to pay dearly to sell debt.
The euro was seen highly vulnerable to further falls, with many analysts looking for a drop towards $1.20.
Concerns are growing that Spain may have to tap debt markets at a time when bond yields are near unsustainable levels. Market players fretted that it may be forced to seek an international bailout.
Adding to the euro's woes, Italy sold bonds at a very high cost, with 10-year yields topping 6 percent for the first time this year as sentiment on the indebted economy looked vulnerable to contagion from Spain's worsening problems.
The euro fell around half a percent to $1.2433 on trading platform EBS, its lowest since early July 2010, as real money and institutional investors stepped up sales of the currency.
"The euro is in an extremely vulnerable position and downside risks are very strong indeed ... The Spanish banking crisis has the potential to knock the stuffing out of the euro zone irrespective of the Greek election results," said Jane Foley, senior currency strategist at Rabobank.
"The issues for Spain are undoubtedly huge and most people are coming round to the idea that it will need to go outside of its borders for assistance. The longer it delays the more the risk of a bank run."
More falls could see the euro test a reported options barrier at $1.2400. Below there it has little chart support until $1.2151, a low hit in late June 2010, and then the 2010 low of $1.1876.
The common currency also lost more than 1 percent against the safe-haven yen, taking it to a four-month low of 98.274 yen.
The latest drop in the euro comes as the 10-year Spanish government bond yield continued to inch towards 7 percent. That was the level when other peripheral euro zone countries had to seek an international bailout.
The cost of insuring against a Spanish default hit new highs and the Madrid stock market hit a nine-year low.
The euro had gained some reprieve earlier in the week after Greece's pro-bailout parties regained an opinion poll lead ahead of elections on June 17, easing market fears of a messy Greece exit from the euro zone.
But the single currency's bounce proved short-lived as the market's focus shifted to Spain. The euro's failure to breach resistance near $1.2625 left the euro looking vulnerable.
"Our short-term fair value model is showing the euro should be around $1.21 with the euro a sell against a broad range of currencies," said Melinda Burgess, currency strategist, at RBS Global Banking.
A government source told Reuters on Tuesday that Spain would likely recapitalise Bankia, which asked for 19 billion euros on Friday, by issuing new debt and possibly drawing cash from the bank restructuring fund and Treasury reserves.
DOLLAR JUMPS
The euro's losses benefited the safe-haven dollar and yen, helping the dollar index, which measures its value against a basket of currencies, rise to a 20-month high of 82.749.
Technical analysts said a monthly close about the 100-month average in the dollar index around 81.82 may herald a shift in the longer-term trend of the dollar and reverse a multi-year drift lower.
The dollar also rose to a 15-month high against the Swiss franc at 0.96593 francs.
The higher-yielding Australian dollar fell 0.8 percent to $0.9765, slipping towards a six-month low at $0.9690, after weaker-than-expected retail sales data underscored the case for interest rate cuts.
Money Advice Group secures £10million from PNC - bdaily.co.uk
Money Advice Group, one of the UK’s leading financial solutions companies, is embarking on a comprehensive growth strategy after securing an asset based lending facility worth £10 million, with PNC Business Credit.
In conjunction with, Dow Schofield Watts, Money Advice Group negotiated the credit facility to enable continued growth through a combination of working capital funding and finance for acquisitions.
Boasting a solid 10-year heritage, Money Advice Group currently holds approximately 8% market share of the fee charging financial solutions industry, with a turnover of £15million. Handling £250million of consumer debt, the financial solutions company has 28,000 clients that it hopes to grow by a third, with the help of the cash reserve from PNC.
Money Advice Group’s expansion plans have been stimulated by increased attention from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), resulting in a compliance review in 2011, which saw a significant number of debt management companies either voluntarily exit the market or be forced to close due to lack of compliance. No longer open to flexible and often lax regulations, the debt management industry is now governed by the OFT’s more stringent ‘Debt Management Guidance’ published in March 2012 – and the enforcement of such has led to an industry trend of consolidation. This has created significant opportunities within the industry for larger players, with the potential to gain more market share by assisting those smaller players who wish to exit completely or sell their book of customers, in light of the cost associations of becoming compliant.
Money Advice Group’s proactive stance has allowed it to anticipate this shift in the debt management industry, and prior to its partnership with PNC, had self-funded an exercise in acquiring a small player exiting the market. The success of such a venture was the catalyst for its ambitious plans for growth and prompted the discussions with PNC to facilitate an acquisitions strategy.
The agreement with PNC is part of Money Advice Group’s overall expansion plans, which will see it take on an additional 3,500 feet² of office space within its existing premises, and boost its workforce with several new appointments within the management and client services teams. Money Advice Group has already recruited 60 members of staff in order to facilitate expansion, bringing the company workforce to 285.
Simon Brown, Managing Director, Money Advice Group commented: “With the introduction of more stringent compliance guidelines than our industry has ever witnessed, we spotted an opportunity in the market. We are extremely proud of our compliant culture but the costs associated with becoming compliant are too excessive for some of the smaller players, so what we find is they want to exit altogether or just sell on some of their books or assets. We trialed this approach last year with the successful acquisition of a smaller company, and it was from this we saw a clear direction for Money Advice Group.
“Our decision to work with PNC stemmed from its reputation in this arena, and its innovative approach to facilities based on loan to value rations against specific assets. This offered a more substantial funding line, enabling us to take advantage of the opportunities in the industry – specifically acquiring both medium-sized and large competitors, and to expand into new markets.
“We have ambitious plans for expansion and growth, and the partnership with PNC has assisted us in realising these plans. We look forward to continuing the working relationship with PNC Business Credit.”
Mark Shackleton, PNC Business Credit said: “Money Advice Group has the infrastructure, industry knowledge and experience to facilitate steady growth through acquisition. There is a clear strategy to grow the business and we are pleased to be adding Money Advice Group to our growing portfolio of clients”.
ENDS
Finance ministry identifies more deals to be taxed - Livemint.com
The finance ministry has identified several deals apart from the Vodafone-Hutchison transaction that will come within the tax net after the retrospective amendments introduced in this year’s budget are approved, a top finance ministry official said.
These deals, including the Vodafone transaction, are not covered under any double tax-avoidance treaties (DTAA) that India has with other countries and are likely to yield the government revenue of around `35,000-40,000 crore.
The move aims to target companies that take money out of their Indian subsidiaries in tax-efficient ways or that have acquired an Indian company or an Indian asset.
“There are around 10 companies apart from Vodafone which would be impacted by retrospective clarificatory amendment,” said the official who didn’t want to be named. “We will raise tax due from them soon.”
According to the official, these deals include Euro Pacific Security Ltd’s purchase of a 22% stake held by Essar’s Mauritius arm in Vodafone Essar; Accenture Services transaction related to its nearly 100% holding in Accenture India through Mauritius-registered entity Beaumont Development Centre Holdings; Sab Miller’s purchase of the Indian assets of Foster’s Australia; Sanofi Pasteur Holdings’ acquisition of Shantha Biotech from another French firm; Tata Industries’ deal involving AT&T’s stake in the company that is now Idea Cellular Ltd; the Sesa Goa transaction involving the purchase of Cairn UK’s stake in Cairn India; and Cyprus-based Richter Holdings Ltd, along with Mauritian company West Globe Ltd, acquiring the holding of UK-registered Finsider International Co., which held a 51% stake in Sesa Goa.
NDTV reported that Euro Pacific Security and Pan Asia, one of the companies mentioned by the official, have already paid taxes as per the income tax department’s demand. It cited a ministry official who wasn’t identified.
A Tata spokesperson said the matter was sub judice and declined to comment. A Sanofi spokesperson said the company is reviewing “the latest developments in the Indian tax law. It is too early for us to make any further comment at this stage”. Mint wasn’t able to reach the other companies on the list late on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had clarified that retrospective amendments to the Income Tax Act in the budget would not override the provisions of the DTAA that India has with 82 countries. Mukherjee had added that retrospective clarificatory amendments would not be used to reopen cases in which assessment orders have been finalized before 1 April of this year.
On the Vodafone arbitration notice sent to the Indian government, the official said the government has replied to the company stating that the notice was premature.
“We have replied to Vodafone that there is no cause of action because no law has been amended,” the official said. “It is premature on behalf of Vodafone.”
On 18 April, Vodafone, through its Dutch subsidiary Vodafone International Holdings BV, sent the letter of dispute to the Indian government as the first step to initiate international arbitration proceedings under the bilateral investment protection agreement (BIPA) signed by the Netherlands and India. The government had set up an inter-ministerial group to finalise the government’s response.
Vodafone International Holdings BV bought the Indian business operations of Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd (HTIL) through the sale of a Cayman Islands-based firm called CGP Investments (Holdings) Ltd, a unit of HTIL, also incorporated in the Cayman Islands. The tax department estimated the phone company’s tax liability at more than `11,000 crore. Vodafone and the Indian tax authorities went to court to resolve the issue.
In a 20 January verdict, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the telecom company, saying the tax department did not have the jurisdiction to tax the transaction.
Following the judgement, the government brought in a retrospective amendment to bring similar transactions under the tax net.
remya.n@livemint.com
PTI contributed to this story.
Forex: EUR/USD in further lows, EMU data - FXStreet.com
Non-bank finance platforms given £100m boost - Daily Telegraph
He added that the Business Department was “looking at the right protections” for savers since the peer-to-peer market is unregulated.
“There is a need to strike a balance between investor protection and opening up the opportunities for business.”
Funding Circle confirmed it would apply for some of the £100m, which is available to alternative lenders which service companies with revenues of less than £75m.
Co founder Samir Desai said: “We actually see it as quite a small amount of money compared to where we believe we can get to. We’re doing more than a £1m a week in terms of lending. There’s a lot of potential to grow the business and these funds would just help us fund more loans.”
Market Invoice, an ‘eBay for invoices’ website for small firms, is also expected to submit a proposal.
Separately, the Treasury confirmed that ‘angel investors’ in growing companies will receive a tax break worth an estimated £125m, after Brussels agreed the expansion of incentives for backers of small businesses.
The Government is hoping the EU’s clearance of its “huge expansion” of the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) will provide an additional £240m a year in capital for small companies by 2016.
For both schemes, businesses employing up to 250 staff will now qualify, up from the previous limit 50, while companies are now allowed to take up to £5m in investment a year, up from £2m.
Chancellor George Osborne had originally promised a £10m investment limit, but this was halved in this year’s budget. It is thought the revision was designed to ensure the changes didn’t fall foul of EU state aid rules.
Brussels also cleared an increase on the EIS and VCT gross assets limit of qualifying companies from £7m to £15m.
Mr Gauke said that Britain now has the most generous tax regime for backers of small firms of any country in the EU.
“This will make a big contribution to driving growth,” he said. “The fact that the scheme has gone from 50 employees to 250 employees means it covers an awful lot of businesses. It will bring more investment [from existing angel investors] and new investors are now likely to see backing small businesses as more attractive.”
“HM Revenue & Customs has been inundated with enquiries from early stage companies. The early stages are encouraging.”
The changes to EIS and VCT are expected to cost the Treasury an annual £125m by 2016.
Birther lunacy: Romney shows money trumps truth and integrity - Examiner
It’s back and Donald Trump is the one who resurrected it: The birther conspiracy theory. It was spawned by racists during the 2008 Obama presidential campaign to delegitimize him as a candidate.
On Tuesday, Trump exchanged sharp words with Wolf Blitzer on CNN as part of a discussion about Mitt Romney’s opinion that President Obama was born in the United States. But instead of distancing himself from Trump’s obstinate birther accusations, Romney tried to stay above the fray with one hand, while the other hand reached out to receive The Donald’s fundraising money.
"I don't agree with all the people who support me,” Romney told reporters Tuesday on the plane to Nevada. “And my guess is they don't all agree with everything I believe in."
Blitzer tried repeatedly to get Trump to offer some kind of proof that Obama wasn’t born in Honolulu, Hawaii, as his authenticated long-form birth certificate has verified—but it was like trying to nail Jello to a tree.
“There are many people…many people, who don’t believe the birth certificate is real,” said Trump, while insulting Blitzer for bringing up the subject, claiming he was just trying to increase CNN ratings. “Obama’s book publisher said he was born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia.”
Trump continued to exaggerate and misstate facts, with the rudeness and arrogance of a person, who was used to getting his way and saying what ever he wanted, totally unchallenged.
The “book” Trump referred to, was a 1991 pamphlet that contained brief and unauthorized bios of Harvard students. Barack Obama was listed as the first black man to become President of the Harvard law review. The statement of being “born in Kenya” was erroneously based on the editor’s assumption and was never fact-checked.
The 20 year old pamphlet was discovered and listed as part of an “Obama vetting” crusade promoted by conservative blogger, Andrew Breitbart, before he died. The statement has been embraced by dim-witted bigots as proof the president was not born in the United States.
Conservative critics say the Republican Party is now stuck with Mitt Romney as their 2012 presidential candidate and associating with Donald Trump, who overshadowed the day, with his birther insanity—will hurt him in the long run and might turn off Independent voters.
Even commentators on Fox News’ Brett Baier Special Report on Tuesday, had only feeble justification for Romney’s involvement with Trump and basically said he should take the money and run.
Juan Williams, Bill Kristol and Charles Krauthammer, were on the Brett Baier panel.
“Romney may be trying to show toughness or bluntness, the way Trump does,” said Krauthammer, “but it is a toxic connection and he should do the fundraising event and get out of there.”
The Obama administration released a scathing rebuke of Romney’s silence. They believe he should not show any willingness to acquiesce to Trump’s implausible accusations that a conspiracy was put in place on August 4, 1961--when the Honolulu Times published the birth announcement of Barack Obama--and continues in 2012, with a fake birth certificate.
"Mitt Romney's continued embrace of Donald Trump and refusal to condemn his disgraceful conspiracy theories, said Stephanie Cutter, Obama’s deputy campaign manager, “demonstrates his complete lack of moral leadership."
However, conservative pundits were more evocative in their descriptions, with the indication that The Donald is an unprincipled buffoon. Columnist, George Will, questioned the price Romney could pay for his association with Trump and referred to him as a “bloviating ignoramus.”
David Frum, former Bush speech writer, gave a birther analogy by saying that no matter how many times a person like Trump might say there are two moons; the irrefutable fact is, there is only one.
Liberal critics feel that Trump, who pompously brags about how smart he is--and Mitt Romney, by alliance--have shown that rich, white boys can’t buy class, morality or intellectual honesty.
The birther madness can only help President Obama get re-elected and provide more humiliating jokes about Trump for the next White house Correspondents dinner.
Money Saving Queen And Just Between Friends Form Partnership - News On 6
MONEY MARKETS-Speculation of ECB interest rate cuts returns - Reuters
* Markets pricing small probability of ECB rate cut in June
* Such bets likely to accumulate in coming days
* As in May, markets could set themselves up for letdown
By Marius Zaharia
LONDON, May 30 (Reuters) - Bets that the ECB will cut interest rates next week are again appearing in money markets, as Spanish and Italian debt yields are approaching levels that made the central bank introduce unprecedented easing measures last year.
The threat that Greece could eventually leave the euro and worries over Spain's banking sector have prompted investors to sell Spanish and Italian debt, bringing the two countries' borrowing costs closer to levels deemed as unsustainable.
The sheer size of their debt markets and their deep-rooted connections with other financial systems in the euro zone are reasons for investors to speculate that a policy response is in the works.
The European Central Bank is, as usual, seen as the most likely institution to take measures to cool market nerves because it can act faster than politicians. It has done it before in the past by injecting around 1 trillion euros of cheap loans into financial system in December and February.
Euro zone economic data this month has also been poor, supporting bets that the ECB may soon resume monetary easing, possibly by cutting its key refinancing rate by 25 basis points from a record low of 1 percent.
"Data ... have been softer, and then you have the Greece issue continuing to be unresolved and the Spanish issue continuing to be unresolved," said Elaine Lin, a rate strategist at Morgan Stanley, whose economists predict a rate cut.
She said the euro overnight Eonia rate forward market was only pricing an over 10 percent probability of a rate cut in June and the chances were higher by another 10-20 percentage points for the July meeting. However, she expected markets to factor in a higher probability in the next few days.
A key rate cut, if also accompanied by a cut in the 25 basis points deposit facility rate, could trigger a 5-10 bps fall in the near-term forward Eonia rates towards the 20 bps level seen now in September-October Eonia forward rates, Lin said.
The lowest point on the 2012 Eonia curve is December, at 16 basis points, which implies an 80 percent probability that the deposit rate would be slashed in half, according to BNP Paribas rate strategist Matteo Regesta.
A Reuters poll of economists showed the ECB was likely to resist pressure to cut interest rates in June, but also pointed to a growing probability that it will reduce them later this year.
Speculation about ECB monetary easing has also been fuelling a rally in Euribor futures , implying bets for lower fixings of benchmark euro zone interbank three-month Euribor rates later this year.
The December Euribor future has gained back most of its losses made since Greece's inconclusive election on May 6, which sparked fears the country may be on its way out of the bloc. The fall earlier this month also coincided with unwinding bets that the ECB would have cut rates in May.
The contract was last 3.5 ticks higher on the day at 99.46. That was one tick lower than the pre-election close on May 4, but some 15 ticks higher from the lows hit in mid-May.
The move higher in Euribor futures, which has been faster than the move lower seen in the very low Eonia forward rates, has led to tighter Euribor/Eonia spreads, which are widely used as a gauge of money market stress.
That is counter to what is happening in banking credit default swap markets - where investors can insure against banking defaults. The Markit iTraxx index of European senior financials CDS remains close to its highest level this year at around 300 bps.
BNP Paribas' Regesta warned that Euribor futures could fall again as they have done after the ECB's May meeting and this would trigger a widening of the Euribor/Eonia spreads consistent with the levels of stress felt in money markets.
"You have a decoupling between those spreads and the banks CDS now, but those spreads remain exposed to significant paying interest in coming weeks ... unless there is another policy response from the ECB at its meeting next week," Regesta said.
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